Brunswick, New York
Brunswick is a town in Rensselaer County, New York, United States. The municipality was originally settled in the early 18th century. During its history, it had been part of Albany County, Rensselaerswyck, and Troy, before its incorporation in 1807. It is bordered on the west by the city of Troy; on the north by Schaghticoke and Pittstown; on the east by Grafton; and on the south by Poestenkill and North Greenbush. The population was 12,581 at the 2020 census.[4] The source of the town's name is not certain, though some claim it comes from the source of its first inhabitants from the province of Brunswick-Lüneburg in Germany.[5][6]
Brunswick
United States
1715
1807
Philip H. Herrington (Republican)
44.63 sq mi (115.58 km2)
44.35 sq mi (114.86 km2)
0.28 sq mi (0.73 km2)
509 ft (155 m)
12,581
280/sq mi (110/km2)
UTC-4 (EDT)
36-10275[2]
0978762[2]
The town was historically agricultural, but began experiencing suburban sprawl in the later decades of the 20th century, which continues currently. Historically, most of the developments have occurred around the town's two major thoroughfares: New York Route 7 and New York Route 2, known locally as Hoosick Road and Brunswick Road, respectively.[n 1] Brunswick became a popular place to settle in upon the completion of the local highway system in the Capital District, especially the upgrade of Route 7 into a four-lane highway in the 1980s.
History[edit]
Colonial era[edit]
The first settlement in Brunswick dates to 1711 to 1715 at Haynersville.[7] Since Haynersville is located just at the current town line with Pittstown, it is currently impossible to be more specific about dates without knowing on which side of the town line various individual farms were.
In the records, Haynersville was first called simply "Hosek Road".[7] This is in reference to the public manor road that went north from the manor along the east side of the Hudson to where Troy now is, and then turned east across the area to Hoosick on the Vermont border, (the latter half of the road is basically today's Route 7, and is still known as Hoosick Road).[8]
The Hoosick Road was a vital link to the then frontier settlement at Hoosick, (settled in 1688), and which formed a link to both Bennington, Vermont and Williamstown. Until the 1790s, the government at Albany claimed Vermont, and its only practical connection to Vermont was by the Hoosick Road.
German Palatines had settled in Livingston's Manor, south of Rensselaer's Manor. Many of these were volunteers during Queen Anne's War in an expedition against Canada in 1711, led locally by Peter Schuyler, "and several finding the country north of them pleasant and desirable, determined, so soon as convenient after their return and discharge, to locate there". Johannes Jung, Job. Adam Freiderich, Georg Shaffer, Phillip Kelmer, Stephen Froelich, Andreas Bergman, Ludowig W. Schmidt, Job. Schneider, were in an initial group prior to 1715, and Coenraet Ham, Jans Witbeck and Hans Jury Kolemer, came in 1715. The last named individual settled within the manor and therefore within the town.[7]
In 1724, there was another campaign against Canada, and which produced a similar exodus of discontented veterans from the Livingston Manor to Brunswick, including Johannes Heener (Hayner), Peter Phillips, Peter Lamp-Man, Johannes Heinrich Conrad, and Olrig and Philip Barnet. Paul Dirk (Derrick) and Peter Ham were the first settlers of Center Brunswick.[9] Paul Derrick's manor farm still stands as the rear section of the farmhouse at 936 Hoosick Road.
Of the earliest church records for the Gilead Lutheran Church, consisting of several dated receipts, the earliest is from 1746. Their first minister, Peter Nicholas Sommer, began his ministry at Haynersville and adjoining areas in 1743.[10]
In the 1740s and 1750s, van Rensselaer as patroon of the manor gave land for the erection of a church, and for the support of a minister at Hosek Road, (Haynersville). Barnett also gives the text of a document from 1769 in the records of the Gilead Lutheran Church:
Politics[edit]
Brunswick has both an organized Democratic Committee[60] and Republican Committee.[61] The legislative branch of Brunswick government has been under Republican control since the late 1990s.[61] Republicans have a comfortable majority in the town: as of April 1, 2009, there were 2670 registered Republicans and 2230 registered Democrats residing in the town.[62] Third parties are also represented, though with low populations relative to the main two parties. The third parties represented include the Independence Party, Conservative Party, Working Families Party, Green Party, and Libertarian Party; the Independence Party significantly outnumbers any other third party.[62]
Services[edit]
The town is served by five volunteer fire departments: Eagle Mills Fire Department on Brunswick Road in Eagle Mills,[63] Center Brunswick Fire Company on Hoosick Road in Center Brunswick,[64] Brunswick Fire Company, No. 1 on Hoosick Road in Sycaway,[65] Mountain View Fire Company near Wynantskill, and Speigletown Fire Company in Speigletown. Brunswick is also the home to a Troop G station of the New York State Police.[66] Additionally, a sub-residency of the New York State Department of Transportation is located on Brick Church Road.
Municipal water service comes from Troy, though a significant portion of the town's population gets its water from wells. Similarly, the small portion of the population connected to the local sewer system is serviced by the Rensselaer County Sewer District, though most inhabitants have individual septic systems.
Transportation[edit]
The two major thoroughfares in Brunswick are New York Route 2 and New York Route 7, known locally as Brunswick Road and Hoosick Road, respectively. On the west, both originate in Troy, then pass through the town, and continue into neighboring towns on the east: Hoosick Road enters Pittstown and continues into Vermont and Brunswick Road enters Grafton and continues into Massachusetts. New York Route 278, Brick Church Road, connects Routes 2 and 7 near the center of the town. New York Route 142, Grange Road, connects Brunswick with Lansingburgh and New York Route 351, Farm to Market Road, connects Brunswick with Poestenkill. Going west, Route 7 becomes Hoosick Street in Troy and eventually becomes a four-lane highway on the Collar City Bridge, intersecting Interstate 787 and ending with a merge onto Interstate 87, giving Brunswick easy access to the local highway system, and subsequently the greater Capital District.
The closest airport is Rensselaer County Airport in Poestenkill, though it is only for small, private planes. The closest commercial airport is Albany International Airport in Colonie. Bus service is not common outside the very western end of the town, which is essentially an extension of the city of Troy. CDTA's bus 87 stops at Wal-Mart on Hoosick Road, which is the only scheduled stop within Brunswick.[73]